Lucy Cheng worships at Wesley Methodist Church and serves in their BeTween ministry. / Photos reproduced with the assistance of MCS Archives
Feature
From The Editors: October is the birthday month of Methodist Message (MM). In this special feature, we focus on the work of the early Methodists in Singapore and Malaysia through the lens of MM. The Methodists, following Wesley's example, were always plugged into the issues of the day, working to improve education and social equality, and sharing the gospel. It is not lost upon us that MM serves as a precious record of God's faithfulness to the Methodists here. Today we hope that MM, in both its print and digital formats, will continue to play this role, to edify and inspire the Methodist community and beyond.
The story of the Methodist Message
Declare His Praise in the Islands S
o runs the tagline under the masthead
This quote plainly expressed the
on the cover of the inaugural issue of
defining purpose and earnest conviction
The Malaysia Message (TMM) in October
accompanying the foreign missionaries of
1891, precursor of the Methodist Message
the Methodist Episcopal Mission (MEM) to
that you are reading now. Where was this
our shores more than 100 years ago. TMM
tagline derived from? Google gave the
was founded as a broadcast to keep their
answer in a flash—it is from Isaiah 42:12 (KJV):
supporters back home apprised of their work and news in this far-flung region. Published monthly, except for two breaks
"Let them give glory
during World War II and immediately
unto the Lord, and declare
after (from Jan 1942 to Nov 1946, and for
his praise in the islands."
10 months in 1947), TMM is probably the longest-running compendium of Methodist church history in Singapore and the region, tracking 131 years to date. The first issue carried a sober reminder that faith and resolve alone could not always surmount the difficulty of acclimatising to the tropics. The two greats of Methodism in Singapore, Bishop William F Oldham and Bishop James Thoburn, both featured in it—Oldham had returned to America where his health was "improving",
16 Methodist Message
October 2022
Inaugural issue of TMM, Oct 1891
Thob
urn